SMR 1953 Topps

HECK55

Some of the pricing is screwed up in the SMR for 1953 Topps baseball. I didn't check others to see if it was just 53. The prices show increases in blue with plus signs and some of them are but some are up in some grades but down in others. Example: #44 Ellis Kinder 12/8/2002 - prices ($16- $27-$50-$125 and $310) in grades 5 thru 9. Same card 1/12/2003 - prices( $20+, $30+, $55+, $115+ and $275+) in grades 5 thru 9. Several others are messed up in this set also. May want to check the ones that you use. Rick

Scoop

Heck, I have found this out in the '56 baseball set also. Up to last month, all of the commons (including some semi-stars) were not listed and grouped in a general listing.

Then last month, some of the rarer commons and some of the semi-stars were listed separately, but their prices were only slightly higher than the general listings and did not reflect the 'real prices'.

When I asked Joe O., he simply stated that there were not enough transactions and also not enough time to go through commons one by one.

I understand this, but either leave listings like they were if not enough transaction data, or give 'true' value to rarer commons and semi-stars (in the '56 set this affects about 6-8 rare cards, and 5-7 semi-stars).

jaxxr

Re: The E. Kinder example,

. There are more definite numbers of cards, in all grades, as the older the issue, the more percise population info becomes. Therefore for some individual cards the lower grades may go up in value a bit, while the high grade ones stagnate, or even drop a bit. ( the reverse is also possible ) Some collectors will not have the financial resources to even consider a 1953 9, but will bid on 7s and 8s and perhaps influence increases only in those grades.
. Another possibility is that for some individual cards, buyers may feel the difference in cost/value is not as much as was once percieved, for an 8 as opposed to a 9 and thus the prices come closer.
. Of course there is also "population data" which relates to other grading companies, while not directly affecting SMR, it is quite possible a collector could buy a few 9s in a GAI or SGC holder, not wanting more than one example of any individual card, and thereby reduce "typical" demand for any particular card in PSA 9, yet still leave the 7s and 8s unaffected.
. There is always an on-line oddity or two, which deviates greatly from the SMR, this also enforces the concept of a "guide" rather than time-sensitive, possibly emotionally influenced buying prices.

HECK55

jaxxr - You may be right in some cases but I don't agree on this one. I watch the 53 SMR and POP all the time and this is the first time I have seen this. This particular card in the POP report did not increase in any of the grades. There are only 16 8's listed which while not an extremly low pop it is still fairly low. Also there are no 9's listed. The card is an SP also. For this card to drop an average of 10% or more in the desirable grades and increase in the less desirable grades does not make any sense to me. Watching the sales of these cards has given no indication for them to decrease in value in nm/mt. As far as the 9's go there are so few of them that in this set that I have not seen any "true" 9's sell much if any below SMR. I believe the demand far surpasses the supply for the 9's in this set. There are even fewer 9's available in SGC or GAI(if any in GAI) so I don't see sales of these even at lower prices having any substantial effect on 9's in the SMR. The SMR always has listed increases in blue and decreases in red. All of the prices for this particular card are listed in blue with plus signs - even the ones that dropped. There are other listings in this set with like #141 Allie Reynolds DP that indicate mistakes - it went up in value in grades 5,6,7, and 8 but in grade 9 it dropped from $500 to $325 in blue with plus sign. In the December POP report there were no 9's listed for this card - I have not checked the newest POP listing for this card yet. If this pricing turns out to be correct then I will have no confidence in it in the future - not that it was overly accurate before. Rick

HECK55

I checked the POP for #141 and there are still no 9's listed for this card. Of the 26,965 1953 Topps baseball cards PSA has graded - only 458 have graded 9. Thats less than two available for each card on average. Rick

TWINRON

HECK55
THE SMR RECENTLY CORRECTED THE SP's AND DP's IN THE PRICE GUIDE. HOWEVER, YOUR OBSERVATION OF THE #44-KINDER CARD IS CORRECT--IT IS CLEARLY A TYPO ON THE PSA8 VALUE. A COMMON SP IS AT $125, AND KINDER SHOWS $115. THEY PROBABLY MEANT A VALUE OF $135 OR MORE.

ALSO, THEY MADE THE SAME MISTAKE ON THE 49 BOWMAN SET, WHEN THEY LISTED VALUES OF #124B AND #165 AT LESS THAN THE COMMON VALUES.


WE NEED TO LET JOE O. KNOW THAT PAYING ATTENTION TO DETAILS IS IMPORTANT, AS THE SMR IS BEGINING TO SHOW TOO MANY ERRORS IN THE LISTING VALUES AND TOTALS DON'T ADD UP.

PSA STILL DOES A GREAT JOB--